In an unprecedented blow to the coal industry, Bloomberg Philanthropies donated $50 million to the Sierra Club to help us move America beyond coal toward a clean energy future. The gift is the largest individual donation to the Climate Recovery Partnership, and Bloomberg’s largest gift to an environmental organization.

With the GenOn coal plant of Alexandria, Virginia, in the background, Mayor Bloomberg—surrounded by media, Sierra Club volunteers, donors, and staff—announced the gift to the Club’s Beyond Coal campaign. "We all have to do our part. I wouldn't ask you to do anything I'm not willing to do myself. And I'm willing to do $50 million," stated Mayor Bloomberg. The donation will expand the Club’s Beyond Coal campaign from 15 to 45 states and double the campaign workforce.

Read more about this exciting news on Sierra Club Executive Director Michael Brune’s blog, Coming Clean.

Media coverage of the event was international in scope, and included the following publications:

Concerned about toxic air pollution from a coal-fired power plant in nearby Alexandria, Virginia, the Sierra Club recently asked Washington, D.C. Mayor Vincent Gray to file a special EPA petition to force the Potomac River Generating Station to either clean up or shut down. The Club has discovered that sulfur dioxide emissions from the 62-year-old plant travel downwind to the District's Ward 8 neighborhoods, causing residents to suffer asthma attacks and other respiratory ailments.

"We're concerned about people's health,” Sierra Club’s Irv Sheffey told The Washington Examiner, “This is a tangible indicator that there's something going on in the air we need to be concerned about.”

Not only did the mayor support our proposal, but his increasing questions about the plant have helped focus tremendous attention to the plant’s health dangers. Television, radio, and online media are all spreading the news about our work to clean up our nation’s capital.

In the study, Dr. Daniel Higgins, Ph.D. (an expert in Arid Lands Resource Sciences at the University of Arizona) details the destructive effects of a coal-mining facility to a vital local water supply. “This report reaffirms the fact that the coal industry continues to materially damage our aquifer with impunity,” said Marshall Johnson of the Navajo grassroots organization, To’ Nizhoni Ani.

Specifically, the study refers to groundwater withdrawals by Peabody Coal’s massive mining facility from the Navajo Aquifer on Black Mesa in Arizona. To date, the Office of Surface Mining has not recognized the degree of harm Peabody is causing to the aquifer, which is used by thousands for drinking water and is the source of a sacred spring.

For more information on the battle we’re waging against Peabody’s mining facility, with support from our allies, click here.

(Photo: Black Mesa Tableland with Peabody crane in background in 1972. The dialogue to move the region beyond coal has an ongoing history. Courtesy of the National Archives and Records Administration.)

In a unique demonstration, Sierra Club’s Lone Star Chapter joined with the Clean Economy Coalition for a rally at Corpus Christi City Hall in which activists poured pet-coke (charcoal briquettes) into glasses of water and delivered them to the city council in a special gift box . The action drew attention to the city’s negotiations to supply water to the huge Las Brisas power plant planned for a strip of land along Corpus Christi Bay. Over the past two years the Sierra Club has organized an active coalition of local residents, health professionals, and Club members opposed to this project. If built, this 1,300 megawatt coke-fired plant would pump more than 9 million tons of CO2 into the atmosphere and use an estimated five to seven billion gallons of water annually--a precious resource in drought-stricken Texas.

Last Sunday in Boston, the Sierra Club and a coalition of more than 200 health, environmental, and social justice organizations delivered to the EPA more than 639,000 comments calling for strong mercury safeguards. Together with groups such as the Environment Defense Fund, League of Women Voters, and the National Wildlife Federation, we brought comments from every state to demand protection from the mercury pollution spewed out of coal-fired power plants.

Our work grabbed the attention of the Boston Globe as well as that of Curt Spalding, Regional Administrator of the EPA’s Region 1 office in Boston. In response to the flood of comments delivered to his doorstep, Sapalding said:

"This tremendous response signals that Americans know how important it is to cut down on mercury, arsenic, and other dangerous pollutants in the air we breathe. Not only will these safeguards prevent thousands of premature deaths and cases of asthma and other illnesses, they will level the playing field for power plants already using widely available clean technology. We're relying on the continued input of New Englanders, and all Americans, to help us make these vital safeguards a reality."

Once again, our voice has been heard by those responsible for helping us move beyond coal—stay tuned!

Over the past week, two Sierra Club rallies helped spread the word about the public health consequences of air pollution and coal-fired power, aided by an inflatable prop.

In Philadelphia, members of the Sierra Club, the Clean Air Council, and other local groups held a rally for clean air on the Independence Mall. The event showcased an 18-foot-tall inflatable hand holding an inhaler, which highlighted the discussion about asthma and poor air quality. Coverage of the rally appeared on local television and radio in Philadelphia, a city that received an “F” in the State of the Air 2011 Report by the American Lung Association.

The inflatable hand also appeared at our rally in Houston, which featured Houston’s Vice Mayor Pro Tem, City Council Member Ed Gonzalez, and various environmental supporters opposing the proposed White Stallion coal-fired power plant near the city. Despite the rainy weather, dozens of White Stallion opponents gathered to release a new Sierra Club study showing the potential risks of increased smog pollution from the proposed power plant. In addition to showing the support of local politicians for our work, the rally received attention in media outlets such as Houston Public Radio and Fox News in Houston.

Thanks to public pressure and a strong campaign by the Sierra Club and a broad national coalition, the EPA’s new Cross-State Air Pollution Rule means 27 states will significantly clean up their air quality by enforcing reductions in soot and smog from power plants.

Sierra Club Beyond Coal Campaign Director Mary Anne Hitt was recognized by the EPA in a national press release featuring her comments praising the new rule: "If you have a child with asthma or a loved one at risk of a heart attack, you can breathe easier today, because these new protections will decrease the chances they will end up in the emergency room."

Giving the new rule teeth is critical. Our television, radio, and online media coverage across the country is keeping public pressure on the EPA. And locally, organizers like Christine Guhl succeeded in making sure editorials (here and here) run in media outlets like the Newark Star-Ledger, the newspaper with the largest circulation in New Jersey.

The Sierra Club has been telling the public for years that coal makes children sick. This week, we’re making sure that the decision-makers in Washington, D.C., get the message with a "station domination" ad campaign (example below) in the second-busiest rapid transit system in the country.

Our Beyond Coal campaign posted banners, oversize posters, lightboxes, and floor graphics in 80 locations throughout the centrally-located Farragut North Station. And to kick things off, Sierra Club activists stood outside the station with giant inhalers on a "code orange" air quality warning day to dramatize the health risks of dirty coal pollution.

In July, the Sierra Club won a major victory toward stopping a new coal-fired power plant in Arkansas. The U.S. 8th Circuit Court of Appeals upheld an injunction against Southwestern Electric Power Company (SWEPCO) that halted construction of the planned 600 megawatt John W. Turk plant.

Since last year, the Sierra Club has partnered with Audubon and the Hempstead County Hunting Club to mount a legal challenge to the construction of the plant.

Arkansas field organizer Lev Guter said, “We are thrilled with the 8th Circuit’s decision to protect the wetlands and water resources jeopardized by the proposed Turk coal plant. Today’s ruling marks an historic victory to protect Arkansans’ public health from the devastation that dirty coal has on our water quality. Our victory is twofold: not only has the Court spared destroying Arkansas’ water resources, but we are one giant step closer towards stopping the burning of more dirty coal, which poisons our health.”

The Sierra Club has long championed moving Beyond Oil, and New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg has announced that the Big Apple is taking a bite out of its oil consumption by adding 70 hybrid and electric vehicles to its government fleet.

Sierra Club’s Gina Coplon-Newfield praised the mayor’s news and noted, “New York can be a model for other cities on how to green their fleets.”

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